NHTSA investigates Comma.ai's openpilot after 5 crashes, 2 fatal
George Hotz's hands-off driving tech faces federal probe over crashes where system failed to detect stationary vehicles.
What to know
- Comma.ai's openpilot system failed to detect stationary vehicles in 5 crashes, killing 3 people, prompting a federal NHTSA investigation.
- At least one fatal crash involved FrogPilot, a third-party modified version of openpilot, complicating questions of whether failures stem from Comma's software or user-altered variants.
- The system has a known limitation: Comma.ai's own website acknowledges that openpilot's Adaptive Cruise Control performance is affected by vehicles in the same lane that are not moving.
- Tesla and Ford have faced similar NHTSA investigations for comparable failures in their driver assistance systems with stationary objects.
George Hotz Comma.ai founderComma.ai Hands-off driving tech companyNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Federal regulator
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts
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Reporter matches first fatal crash to Comma investigation details
TechCrunch reporter Sean O'Kane confirmed matching details of one fatal crash cited in the NHTSA investigation to the February Louisiana incident, identifying the second victim count and crash configuration.
“I've been able to match details of one of the reported fatal crashes to a crash in Louisiana from February. Two rear-seat passengers died after the vehicle crashed into a police SUV.”
— Sean O'Kane -
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NEW: NHTSA is investigating George Hotz's hands-free driver assistance tech (Comma) after five reported crashes, two of them fatal The probe involves some crashes where the drivers were apparently using forked versions of Comma's "openpilot" software
2 more of the top 3 · 4 posts in this stretch
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https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/09/aftermarket-driver-assist-under-federal-probe-following-fatal-crashes/ ahahahaha after that ass-clenching video where that one guy installed comma in his rivian and thought it was amazing because it hesitated less than the rivian self-driving and it was open […]
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How... is this even legal? "aftermarket hands-off driver assistance tech" "can be installed on a range of modern cars" THIS SHOULD NOT EXIST!!!
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background
NHTSA opens investigation into Comma.ai after 5 crashes, 2 fatal — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Office of Defects Investigation announced a federal probe into Comma.ai's hands-off driving tech following five reported crashes involving the system failing to detect or respond to slow or stopped vehicles. Two crashes resulted in three deaths total; across four crashes, as many as 11 people were injured. Some crashes involved modified versions of Comma.ai's software.
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background
Toyota RAV4 running FrogPilot strikes Louisiana police vehicle, kills 2 — In Ascension Parish, Louisiana, a 2022 Toyota RAV4 running FrogPilot (a third-party fork of openpilot) struck a fully marked Gonzales Police Department unit positioned in the left lane with emergency lights activated. Two rear-seat passengers of the Toyota died.
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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first by HN Frontpage, 13h ago · also Business Insider, TechCrunch
1 more headline
- Authorities are investigating Comma AI's hands-off driving tech after fatal crashes Business Insider · 4h ago
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first by Channel News Asia, 13h ago
1 more headline
- Aftermarket driver assist under federal probe following fatal crashes Mastodon · 13h ago
and 1 smaller piece